Underdog role right up these cats' alley

PM O'Sullivan/ The Ciotóg side: Now that the expected has transpired, it might not be so boring after all. There is a growing fascination with this season's decider, despite so many weary predictions of it last May.

Cork and Kilkenny: love and marriage, horse and carriage. That sort of a Sinatra-ish thing. Hoboken's finest once stated that there was a time when half of America must have been conceived to the sound of his voice. There is a consistent motif, too, with hurling's climactic moments. Historically, the joining of Leeside and Noreside has made for many of the code's finest and most exciting spectacles.

Not recently, though. 1999, 2003 and 2004 were less transport to the moon than feet of clay. Those matches centred on being being tight far more than on taking flight. An initial fascination will concern whether September 3rd can break this pattern.

Emotionally, the contest could not be better balanced. To a remarkable extent, it looks like a rerun of 1978. A transitional Marble outfit, having been All-Ireland champions for the two years before Red and White's run began, takes on a high-flying Rebel crew.

A notable aspect of this great rivalry is that the favourites, ever since 1966's shock win by Cork, tend to struggle. Only 1978 and 1983, as well as 1966, provide exceptions out of 10 meetings in the last 40 years.

With sport, so much genuinely devolves to events on the day. The dynamics that bind a contest, the sinews of it, are a bewildering mixture of gossamer and hawser, chance and form. The most beautiful game is no exception. Hurling may even be a special case of this truth, given the code's speed and the fashion in which best-laid plans can unravel.

The denouement of 1972's final is often hailed as the most remarkable one of all. Twenty two minutes saw Kilkenny advance an eight-point deficit into a seven-point win. Famous footage records a crucial Frank Cummins goal after a solo run in which the sliotar seemed to be fighting with his hurl. Guess what? Cummins had collected a topped Éamonn Morrissey clearance.

Gossamer, gossamer. Outcomes can hang by a thread. DJ Carey's brilliant goal in the 2002 All-Ireland final accrued after Henry Shefflin, having picked up a mishit stroke by Richie Mullally, was short with an attempt at a point.

We have two weeks to ponder this decider's pressure points. For starters, there will be relief in some quarters that Barry Kelly will officiate. There was a lot of negative comment, which was and was not fair, about Séamus Roche's performance in the semi-final. Right from when he blew Tony Carmody in the first minute, it was clear the Tipperary man was going to be strict on "steps". Fair enough. The rule is there.

The video evinces no bias on Roche's part as regards one county or the other. What it does indicate is his status, in the phrase, as a "backs referee".

The 25th minute saw him blow Eddie Brennan for overcarrying when the decision looked a very marginal call (especially after Brennan had tapped the sliotar on his hurl). Eight minutes earlier, Frank Lohan was allowed run a dozen steps before a clearance came. Consistency is everything.

Clare should have had a penalty in the 15th minute. Noel Hickey twice pulled across Niall Gilligan from behind as the Sixmilebridge man bore down on goal. If you examine the footage, it is clear Gilligan drops the sliotar from his hand because of a blow on the arm. The moment is not comparable to the 47th minute, when Brian Hogan snigged the ball off Colin Lynch's hurl as Lynch went away from him.

Real controversy attended rescindment of a Kilkenny penalty. The relevant rule (5.22) notes a situation where "a player" retaliates "between the award of a free to his team and the free puck being taken". The penalty for said transgression is the free's cancellation followed by a throw-in. There is an immediate problem with this wording. The indefinite article ("a player") does not provide absolute clarification. Is it the individual who was fouled who must be guilty of retaliation before the award can be rescinded? Or does the action of any team-mate count?

That ambiguity noted, the very emphasis on retaliation surely denotes the fouled player. If so, this referee erred in voiding the penalty, in that he booked Eddie Brennan rather than Eoin McCormack.

Roche's practice in this regard also opens up a disquieting vista whereby a team can get a decision overturned simply by provoking a member of the opposition. It is doubtful that the rulebook wishes to cater for such a scenario; clarification should be added to the wording.

Which or whether, Roche appears not to understand the rule's nuances. He certainly erred when he cancelled a free and threw in the ball, following some comment to him by Peter Barry, when Kilkenny met Galway in August 2005. A pivotal goal accrued for the Corribsiders. Contingency's gossamer again.

For now, though, Kilkenny are just where they want to be: the underdog's kennel, gnawing a sturdy leash of plaited leather.